▪ I. ˈblather, v. orig. dial.
(ˈblæðə(r))
[Variant of blether v.]
intr. To talk foolishly, talk nonsense. Often in ppl. a. Hence ˈblatherer, a foolish talker (1866 in E.D.D.).
| 1825 Brockett Gloss. N. Country Words 18 He blathers and talks, is a common phrase where much is said to little purpose. A person of this kind is..styled a blathering hash. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed iv. 59 If you were only a mass of blathering vanity,..I wouldn't mind. 1892 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Dec. 11/1 Hold your tongues, you blathering idiots. 1900 Century Mag. Feb. 504/1 Morland had a blathering contempt for nobility and society. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Touch & Go iii. i. 76 They've got a set of loud-mouthed blatherers and agitators among them. 1951 Essays in Criticism I. 17, I sympathize with O'Casey's character Who called him ‘a tired-out old blatherer’. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids i. 15 Gentlemanly tones which blathered about this ‘magnificent spectacle’ and ‘unique phenomenon’. |
▪ II. blather
variant of bladder n.
▪ III. blather, n.
see blether n.